Skin: Oxford for Parametr'EQ

[swindus]

Today was pretty boring and so I created this skin for the Parametri'EQ. The skinning engine works great. No graphics ripped from any screenshots, all done in an old version of Fireworks.

5 background colors: default blue, dark blue, green, orange and red.



Download: Check the Blue Cat Audio page.

[Blue Cat Audio]

You rock!!!

Would you mind if we publish this skin on the website?

[swindus]

Would be great.

[Dayl]

Woah, I just read the skinning manual on your site. Nice indeed! very comprehensive and I see that I could probably get something done with this info.

Thanks!

BTW, would this be a good introduction in to skin design? xml design is the standard isnt it?

The design isn't the problem its just the implementation.

[Lagrange]

This is really nice.. I wish the baby blue background was a bit darker kinda drowns out the white lettering..

L

[Blue Cat Audio]

Would be great.

Any website we can link to?

[swindus]

@Lagrange
Like this?


I added the dark background to the zip.

@Blue Cat Audio
No website at the moment. Thanks anyway.

[swindus]

One question: Is ther a way to limit the gain range lets say to -12 <-> +12?

[Blue Cat Audio]

Woah, I just read the skinning manual on your site. Nice indeed! very comprehensive and I see that I could probably get something done with this info.

Great! We'll be glad to publish your artwork when it's ready.

BTW, would this be a good introduction in to skin design? xml design is the standard isnt it?
The design isn't the problem its just the implementation.

I would split the skin design process in two parts:
- the components design (which is usually standard and reusable, knobs using filmstrips etc.)
- the layout and UI logic
For the second part there is no standard. Most people use xml or .ini (name/value) files to store the layout information but the exact format inside really depends on the application.

I think our language has many capabilities you will not find elsewhere (such as layers, automatic layout (rows/columns), transparency...) so the design might be easier with our system (even though you have a bit more tags to learn if you wish to use these features), because writing the exact coordinates for each component by hand is rally a pain (this is what most skin engines deal with).

Anyway, even if the language is different, I think it's a good way to start skin design, and you will find that most of the job is not the language itself but the design of the GUI and the way the user interacts with it.

Just one last remark before you start: check the skinning language version supported by the plugin you want to skin (right click on the background, choose the "About" menu item). There have been many improvements lately and they might not be available in the plugin yet. Note that for every feature the documentation explains in which version it was introduced, so you should not have any issue.

Have fun!

[Blue Cat Audio]

One question: Is ther a way to limit the gain range lets say to -12 <-> +12?

It's possible in the version you have today (you need to create an intermediate parameter with +-12 dB range and link this parameter to the actual plugin parameter. I can send you an example if you wish later today), but if you wait a little bit it will be included in the next release (under development), together with graph zooming corresponding to the chosen value range.

[Dayl]

Awesome. Thanks!Im really interested in the automation of it all, like seeing your designs coming to life. Like knobs moving etc.

@swindus, awesome looking gui mate. sorry for jumping your thread, I should have posted elsewhere

[swindus]

It's possible in the version you have today (you need to create an intermediate parameter with +-12 dB range and link this parameter to the actual plugin parameter. I can send you an example if you wish later today), but if you wait a little bit it will be included in the next release (under development), together with graph zooming corresponding to the chosen value range.

An example would be nice.

[swindus]

Skin is finished. Download link is in the first post.

[Blue Cat Audio]

Skin is finished. Download link is in the first post.

Awesome! Is it now ok to be published?

[Blue Cat Audio]

An example would be nice.

Here is an example for a single parameter. Let's say we have a knob connected to dsp.input1 and we want to change th erange to +/-12 dB. To do so, create a new parameter ("my_param") with the appropriate range, and make a connection between the two (a connection is a link in both directions):

Code: Select all

(...)
<!-- Declare the new param -->
<PARAM id="my_param" min="-12" max="12" default="0" unit="dB" name="gain"/>

<!-- Connection between the two -->
<PARAM_CONNECTION id1="my_param" id2="dsp.input1"/>

<!-- Connect the knob to the new parameter instead of dsp.input1-->
<CUS_PARAM_KNOB param_id="my_param" (...)

And you are done: you now have a +-12 dB parameter range. Find below the description of the PARAM_CONNECTION object from the skinning manual.

PARAM_CONNECTION:
This element connects two parameters together. This means than whenever a parameter is changed, the other one follows it. It is stronger than two PARAM_LINK elements connecting both parameters because it ensures that both parameters keep the same value. This can be used to make a parameter constant or limited to a certain range for example.